Second generation Törnqvist joins 44Cup in Porto Cervo
by 44Cup 12 May 20:11 AEST
12-18 May 2025
44Cup 2025 © Nico Martinez
The 44Cup is renowned for its loyal group of owners. With most having been part of the class for so long it is not surprising that many of their children now regularly sail on board as guests or as part of the crew. But in the case of Torbjörn Törnqvist's family they have gone one step further with son Markus Törnqvist this week taking the helm of the new RC44 GeMera.
Markus is no stranger to the 44Cup having been around the circuit most of his life. For the last five years he has regularly sailed on board his father's Artemis Racing. "I've gone from sitting at the back of the boat, to being in the middle assisting with the trimming. Finally I am now driving, so I will see where it takes me," says Markus. Sailing is today his principal sport. Having been taught how to sail an Optimist dinghy by some highly qualified members of the Artemis Racing America's Cup team in Bermuda in 2017, Markus today has his own Moth foiling dinghy which he regularly sails from the Société Nautique de Genève. "I have also been sailing Lasers, skiffs and foiling cats too - so a bit of everything, not to a professional level, just as a hobby," he says.
In putting together the GeMera team with the help of Artemis Racing team manager Sarah Gundersen, the timing was fortuitous, coinciding with the end of the last America's Cup cycle. This freed up many sailors, notably Luna Rossa Team Prada Pirelli helmsman Francesco Bruni, who previously called tactics both on the Artemis Racing RC44 and on the Swedish team's America's Cup catamaran. While Bruni is GeMera's tactician, Australian all-rounder Kyle Langford is mainsheet trimmer (when he is not wing trimmer with the Red Bull Italy SailGP team) and has been integral to getting the team together and developing their new boat. They are assisted by other America's Cup/SailGP level sailors - Kinley Fowler, the UK's Neil Hunter and Nick Hutton and Australian match racer/Olympian David Gilmour (who, with Langford and Fowler are partners in Seagull Sails, which represents Doyle Sails in Sweden).
Also on board are other young Swedes, Hugo Christenson and Ida Svensson, both of whom were with the Artemis Academy. This aims to train up young Swedish sailors and entered teams in both last year's Unicredit Youth America's Cup and the Puig Women's America's Cup in Barcelona.
So how competitive will Markus and his father be? "Certainly there will be a bit of action on the race course, a few shouts here and there. There will be lots of competition between us," says Markus.
GeMera is the third brand new RC44 to be launched in the last 12 months, following on from the new boats for Chris Bake's Team Aqua and John Bassadone's Peninsula Racing. Those boats took a few events to bed in before they started to perform well and Markus believes GeMera will be no different, with long hours having to be put in both by the sailing team and the shore team led by Chris Noble.
Saturday was only their third day of training and their first with Markus helming. "It will be very interesting," he says of this first event for his new team and boat. "Something new for me to try. Hopefully we don't do too badly. Our expectations are low, but it is great fun to be out there with a great team, great people and great boats."
In addition to his tactician duties, Francesco Bruni is helping Markus with helming and teaching him about the unique traits of the RC44, however the team has a full time coach in Tom Burnham (now also returned from America's Cup duties) and GeMera shares many resources with Artemis Racing. "Markus did very well on his first day steering the boat," says Bruni. "Obviously we have very low expectations in general as a team because it is a new group, but, having said that, I have a positive feeling for the future. Markus was looking very excited today about all of this. It is very important that he likes it and is enjoying it."
Bruni has sailed in the class on and off since its inception with significant teams along the way including Mascalzone Latino, Katusha, Artemis Racing and Team Nika. He points out that while most of the GeMera crew are hugely experienced, they are relatively short on RC44 experience. "It is important to have a positive attitude from everyone so that we can learn quickly."
He too is excited by the prospect of having 11 RC44 one designs on the start line in Porto Cervo with yet more new teams set to join the circuit later this year. "It is incredible a class like this growing again. But the RC44 is a great boat. We have a lot of fun racing them."
While 'GeMera' is the name of the insanely powerful supercar made by Swedish manufacturer Koenigsegg, in fact the team's name was chosen purely for its meaning in Swedish: 'Give More'. "It is motivation on board for the rainy days!" concludes Markus.